1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a harvesting machine conveyor and in particular to a bearing assembly for a retractable finger in a conveying auger.
2. Description of Related Art
It is common in platforms for harvesters to assist the transfer of crop material into a feeder conveyor with a crop converging auger that contains spiral flighting to move crop material from the ends of the platform to the platform center to the feeder conveyor. The center portion of the auger immediately forward of the feeder conveyor is provided with a rotating and retracting finger arrangement in which a finger crank shaft is fixed inside of and eccentric to the rotating auger tube. Elongated fingers journaled on the finger crank shaft extend generally radially through guide slots in the surface of the tube so that as the tube rotates, the fingers are rotated about their shaft and reciprocated in the guide slots due to the eccentricity of the finger crank shaft with respect to the auger tube. The arrangement is timed so that the fingers extend to engage crop material and sweep it under the tube, into the feeder conveyor and retract to assist in releasing the material into the feeder conveyor.
A harvesting platform must operate in a variety of soil and crop conditions and is often operated at near maximum capacity so that its conveying elements, including the auger and fingers, are subjected to heavy and fluctuating loading, to abrasion from dirt gathered in with the crop, and possibly, to direct mechanical damage from inadvertent feeding of foreign bodies such as rocks and scrap metal into the conveyor system. There is thus a relatively frequent need to remove and reinstall platform auger fingers, to replace worn out finger bearings and /or broken fingers.
Access for disassembly and replacement of a bearing assembly and/or finger is gained through hand access holes in the auger tube, normally closed by removable covers. Since access into the auger tube is limited, replacing the fingers or finger bearings is awkward, inconvenient and often time consuming. A finger bearing assembly, as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,271,956, greatly simplified the process of replacing a finger bearing and/or finger as compared to the prior art at that time. The bearing assembly disclosed in that patent comprises two halves pivotally coupled or hinged together so that the two halves can be wrapped around the finger crank shaft and form a generally cylindrical bearing surface surrounding the crank shaft. The bearing halves include a radially extending finger retaining portion that, when the two halves are brought together around the crank shaft, provide a socket to receive the inner end of a finger. A bolt is passed through the radially extending finger retaining portions and through a bore near the inner end of the finger. The bolt is retained by a nut and secures the finger to the bearing assembly and also maintains the two bearing halves closed around the crank shaft. As such, it is necessary to use hand tools to secure the bearing assembly to the crank shaft and the finger to the bearing assembly.